Sports

Indians sluggish in loss to Mariners

SEATTLE -- Following the shock of hearing their manager was headed for the hospital after suddenly not feeling well, the Seattle Mariners kept their July power surge rolling.

Kendrys Morales and Mike Zunino each homered, Aaron Harang pitched seven strong innings, and the Mariners won their season-high seventh straight with a 2-1 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Monday night.

The Mariners improved on the longest current win streak in baseball and did it without manager Eric Wedge on the dugout railing. Wedge suffered dizziness during batting practice and had to be helped off the field and into the Mariners' clubhouse by team personnel. Wedge was examined by team physicians Dr. Mitch Storey and Dr. Edward Khalfayan and the team training staff at the stadium.

Despite Wedge eventually feeling better, the team decided to have him examined at a hospital. General manager Jack Zduriencik said before the game that he expected the skipper to be back at the stadium Tuesday. But bench coach Robby Thompson, who managed the team Monday, said Wedge was expected to spend the night.

"Right now they're just doing a series of tests, and obviously he's going to stay overnight and we'll know more in the morning once all of those results get in," Thompson said. "He's resting and he's feeling fine right now, he's feeling a lot better. ... He should be fine, and I'm sure the W is going to help him out a little bit."

Morales led off the fourth inning with a homer, and Zunino did the same in the fifth off Cleveland starter Ubaldo Jimenez, helping Seattle increase its league-leading total to 29 homers in July. The seven-game streak is the longest for Seattle since winning eight straight in August 2012.

Cleveland pitchers had gone nine games -- 85 innings -- without allowing a home run. Jimenez (7-5) kept the streak going through 88 innings until Morales led off the fourth with his 15th homer of the season, which curled just inside the right-field foul pole.

An inning later, Zunino fell behind 0-2 and Jimenez tried to sneak a fastball past the rookie. But fastballs are the one pitch Zunino has shown he can hit at the major league level, and he lined a 411-foot shot into the left-field bullpen for his second career homer.

Seattle has now homered in 25 of the past 26 games, the only break in the streak coming Saturday when the M's won in Houston with just one hit.

"Every day you're a different player, but we've been connecting here, and every time you connect, that's a positive thing and you can build on that," Morales said through an interpreter. "You've got to work hard in the cage with your teammates every day, and I think that's a fundamental thing that we're really focusing on right now."

Harang (5-8) gave up a solo homer in the first to Nick Swisher and danced around trouble for his second win in his past three starts. Tom Wilhelmsen survived the ninth for his 22nd save.

Wilhelmsen blew a save in Cleveland earlier this season and gave up a one-out double to Michael Brantley. Carlos Santana grounded out, with Brantley advancing to third before Jason Giambi walked. Wilhelmsen got Lonnie Chisenhall to fly out to right for the final out.

"Offensively we've got to pick it up," Cleveland's Michael Bourn said. "Not press, but just be focused and take it from there."

Harang fell behind early when Swisher homered but found a groove later. Harang retired 11 of the final 12 batters he faced. He threw only 11 pitches total in the sixth and seventh innings combined. He finished seven innings for the fourth time in 16 starts, allowed four hits and struck out two.

"You kind of want to match what the guy did the night before, and that's how you get on good streaks. It's that competitiveness in the clubhouse, but we're also going out there trying to help our team win," Harang said. "All around the guys have been swinging well, the defense has been playing well and the pitching has been there. That's what it takes to get on streaks like this."